U.s. Parks Gearing Up For Biggest Season Ever

July 6, 1986|By Alfred Borcover, Chicago Tribune

Our national parks and monuments come in all shapes and sizes. When I think of these treasures, I tend to focus on the spectacular ones.

I can recall the grandeur of Yosemite National Park in California although I was there for only a brief tour. I can recall huffing and puffing as I hiked with a ranger in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The changing colors and moods of the Grand Canyon in Arizona never leave me. And I have etched in my mind the living Ice Age in Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska and a primeval forest across a dirt road from the park's lodge.

For me, the national parks provide very special images. But, like millions of other Americans, my experiences basically are shallow. Rewarding, but shallow because I barely scratched the surface of the national wonders.

The ranger in the Tetons observed that most park visitors stray only 15 minutes away from their cars. If you consider the Teton park covers 484 square miles, visitors see very little. Nevertheless, it's the amount and quality of the experience that count.

This summer, millions of American and foreign tourists will be visiting our national parks and monuments in record numbers, all part of this ''see America'' summer. Some will backpack and camp in the parks, absorbing natural wonders as well as discomforts. Others will stay in lodges with all the trappings of home. Some will hike to the tops of steep sand dunes, and others will relish experiences in purely urban settings. Our national parks are not always natural wonders.

This weekend attention is focused on the Statue of Liberty National Monument, including Ellis Island, as the restored lady's centennial is celebrated. In nearby Philadelphia, Independence Park, with Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, lies in the heart of downtown. And so does the national historic park in Boston, better known as the Freedom Trail.

In fact, the National Park System, with 337 units, includes not only this country's 48 national parks but also national monuments, preserves, lakeshores, rivers, seashores, historic sites, memorials, military parks, battlefield parks, national recreation areas, parkways and scenic trails.

This year the National Park Service expects a 20 percent increase in their 400 million annual visitors.

Despite those staggering numbers, the impact on the parks, which in total cover 121,666 square miles (larger than New Mexico), is not a critical problem, according to Gary E. Machlis, national parks expert, author and an associate professor at the University of Idaho.

''Yosemite Valley on summer weekends and Independence Park in Philadelphia will get heavy use,'' Machlis said. ''Certain areas of certain parks will be heavily impacted. There are times when Washington's Olympic National Park and its campgrounds will be jammed with people, but at times quite open.

''I don't think there are national parks that are always crowded, always in jeopardy because of too many visitors,'' Machlis responded to a question about environmental impact. And crowded parks cannot necessarily be equated as a bad experience by visitors.

''You can go to the Grand Canyon when it's crowded and enjoy it. There are all kinds of lesser-known areas, places off the beaten track,'' Machlis said. ''Wupatki National Monument is just off the main road between Phoenix and Grand Canyon National Park. It's an archeological site where you can spend three hours walking through Indian ruins that are several thousand years old. There's a visitors center where you can get information about the archeological digs.''

As another example, Machlis cited Biscayne, just south of Miami. ''It's a wonderful water park that's very lightly used. You can take a ferry boat out to one of the mangrove islands and go on nature walks.''

While Biscayne sounds enticing in the winter, you can bet that most park visitors will head for the crown jewels like Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite. ''But again, the crowding is only going to be at certain times and certain places in the parks. At the most crowded time in Yosemite, the large majority of that park is wide open for visitors.'' The crowded part, of course, is popular Yosemite Valley.

''Great Smoky Mountain has immense visitation,'' said Machlis. ''But again, people accept that there's going to be other folks there because the park is so popular. I've watched lots of people drive through Great Smoky and enjoy it. It's not a backpacking experience, and hence I'm not convinced that the crowding is necessarily a giant problem there.''